Boundless
by Hugs-n-Symmetry
Summary: Melody Marshal is a fiery redhead, who upon expulsion from her all-girl weapon academy, is enrolled in the DWMA. She instantly makes friends, but soon discovers that her friends can't handle the truth about who she is. So she sets off on a quest to prove her innocence, but will everything end up terribly wrong? Soul/OC. Can't stand OC stories but this one is good, I promise. ;
1. Chapter 1: Expelled

**My first multi-chapter soul eater fanfiction. think im doing pretty well so far. review, and if you like dont be afraid to favorite/alert this story, or me.(; love ya!**

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I ran my finger along the dusty wood of the bookshelf, drowning myself in the whispers of my fellow students. No matter how many times I had been in this library, the books never caught my attention. Not once had I ever been interested in reading them, and I doubted I ever would be. However, I spent nearly all my free time in the library. Why? I'm not sure. Something about the way it made me feel smart—and the peace and quiet was a plus side as well. Hardly anyone ever decided to piss me off there. Over the years I spent at Death Weapon Sister Academy, the library had become a sort of safe haven to me, the only place I could go to escape.

Until that day when everything changed.

I had spent pretty much the whole day dozing off in all of my classes, so my head wasn't exactly all there at the time. I stood, tucked inside the shadows, my usual stance, watching as the girls sat around the library tables; talking, laughing, and giggling. How sickening.

Suddenly I heard a voice behind me.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Marshal," the all-too-familiar growl of Bernice Brown greeted my ears. I rolled my eyes, and slowly turned to face her. Her plump face was turned down in a condescending sneer, and she cracked her fat manly knuckles as if trying to intimidate me.

"What do you want, Bernybee?" I asked, smirking. I used her old childhood nickname just to piss her off. What can I say? It was fun.

"Don't laugh at me, Melody Marshal; I'll kick your ass." Bernice's tone was gruff and showed seriousness. All in that second I decided I was going to have some fun today.

"Try it." I poked and prodded at her chubby cheeks. "Or are you too chicken, Bernybee?"

In one swift movement she reached up and smacked my hand away, grabbed me around the wrist and twisted me around, holding my arm behind my back. "Ooh, you're a tough girl, aren't you?" I teased some more. I could sense her getting angrier and angrier.

"Don't make me go into weapon form!" she warned loudly. People were beginning to stare. I almost laughed out loud; her threats had no affect on me.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, my arm still locked behind my back. "Stone me to death?" The onlookers burst into laughter.

Bernice roared in anger, and I snickered, deciding this was my time. I transformed partly into my weapon form, so that my arm—the one being held behind my back—suddenly turned into the blade of a scythe. I heard a few of the observers gasp. My blade was gold, and upon transforming, Bernice screeched in pain and quickly let go of me, stumbling backwards with haste. My blade had cut her, victory.

When she finished screeching, she too transformed into part of her weapon form. Bernice's arm turned into a slingshot. Out of nowhere appeared a fairly large sized stone. She placed it in her slingshot, cocked it, aimed, and let go—the stone came flying right towards my face, but at the very last second I raised my blade and deflected it. The students watching our captivating fight cheered, and Bernice opened her mouth to shout some rude comment at me when suddenly, the stone I had deflected went flying back at her and lodged itself right inside her fat loud mouth. The library erupted into wild laughter and whooping and I grinned with satisfaction. Bernice, however, wasn't so satisfied.

She spit out the stone which landed with a _thud _on the library floor, along with blood and a couple of her teeth. Her slingshot quickly transformed back into her regular meaty hand. The library suddenly got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Bernice clamped her jaw, cracked her knuckles again, and rolled her head around on her neck so you could hear that crack too.

"Cracking your knuckles is a gross habit," I told her. "You'll grow up to have arthritis."

"Shut your smart ass mouth, Marshal," she said under her breath. She spat again. Then she lunged at me.

I stepped out of the way just in time for her to go rumbling past—but at the last second I flung out my normal arm and caught her. I swear my arm almost sunk in to her fat stomach. I hooked my arm under her armpit so I had her in a strong hold, and then put my blade up against her neck.

"I suggest you not mess with me again, Bernybee," I spat. "Understood?"

"Y-yes Melody," she croaked. I smiled roughly, and was about to let her go when my worst nightmares came true.

"Melody Marshal!" Lady Death shouted. I looked up, panicked, to see none other than our wonderful school's principal standing in the doorway to the library. All the other students suddenly busied themselves with whatever they had been doing before, pretending they had no business with the violence whatsoever.

Lady Death approached me and Bernice, who I still had under my blade. "Let her go."

I obeyed my orders and let Bernice drop to the ground. I think the floor shook a little. My scythe arm transformed back to normal and I stood, looking into the dark, lifeless eyes of Lady Death.

"In my office. Now."

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"Care to explain yourself?" Lady Death's face was shrouded by her cloak, but I could see her dark eyes glinting at me. I told myself not to be such a chicken. She was only the Grim Reaper's ex-wife, after all.

"She was threatening me," I said plainly. I inspected my nails, attempting to look preoccupied.

Lady Death cleared her throat. "As you well know, this academy has a strict no violence policy. But instead of telling one of your authorities, you decided to take the situation into your own hands. Seems like you would have been better off following the rules, right Ms. Marshal?"

I grunted in reply.

She buried her head in her skeleton hands. "What am I going to do with you, Melody?"

Not quite knowing how to answer her question, or even if I should, I turned my attention to my surroundings. The Principal's office. I inspected various framed photos decorating the drab walls. A black and white one showcasing a younger, more carefree Lady Death, standing with the first batch of girls to ever attend Death Weapon Sister Academy. The DWSA is an all-girls academy, has been ever since it's opening. Its purpose is for bringing up proper young girls and teaching them self-control with their weapon abilities. No meisters are allowed at the DWSA, since it is not for the practice of kishin-hunting, like the DWMA—more commonly known as the Death Weapon Meister Academy. "I will not raise young ladies to go around acting like complete savages, like my ex-husband does," Lady Death always answered when asked why her academy was so different from Lord Death's. "My academy is solely for teaching young weapons self-defense and control." Unlike the DWMA, which was placed right smack-dab in the middle of Death City, the DWSA took a more off-the-map approach, settling itself in the mountains, beyond the desert that Death City was located in. Lady Death said it made for a more peaceful existence, that the DWSA got a lot less visitors that way, which more or less meant a lot less kishins slinking around. In my opinion, it just made things a lot less boring. I had snuck out on various occasions and had countless adventures in Death City.

I looked at the next photo, a second black-and-white, of the same younger Lady Death holding a plaque that said "Death Weapon Sister Academy – Established 1890 – Headmaster Lady Death." A third photo, this one in color and looking more recent, of Lady Death with what I was guessing must be her ex-husband Lord Death, and a young boy between them. The boy had black hair with white stripes on one side, and golden eyes. He was little, probably only four or five. Something in the corner of the picture caught my eye. Little gold writing that said: 2002. I squinted, staring at it. Ten years ago. So the boy was my age now. I startled Lady Death when I spoke.

"Who's that boy?" I blurted, jabbing my finger towards the picture. Lady Death looked up quickly, and when she gazed in the direction I was pointing, I sensed apprehension. I studied her as she answered me.

"My son," she said quietly. "He lives with his father. Goes to the Meister academy."

"Name?"

"Death the Kid."

"Boy, you Grim Reapers are really good with names," I said sarcastically.

Something seemed to snap in Lady Death, although I'm not sure but I also thought it might have been something clicking as well. She turned her attention back to me. "Pack up your things, you're leaving."

"What?" I sat up, defiant. "You're expelling me for saying that?"

"No," she corrected, "I was already going to expel you for your conduct, you're past your last warning. That violent outbreak will be your last." I opened my mouth to protest when she continued, "Besides, I know a place _much better_ for you to go. One where you will be able to showcase your talents freely." She picked up her Skullphone and began to dial a number.

"Showcase my talents? What talents?" Anxiously, I clutched the armrests of the chair I was sitting in. I listened and watched closely as she spoke to the person on the phone.

"Ah yes, Lord Death? It's me. How's the academy doing?" She paused for a moment, and then seemed to think better of that last question. "Never mind that, how are you doing student-wise? Because I think I just found you a new one." Under the shadow of her hood, I could see her crack a wide, gleaming, devilish smile.


	2. Chapter 2: Enrolled

Lady Death proceeded to enroll me in the Death Weapon Meister Academy—a job I very well could have done myself, but she insisted on it. Then she also found me living arrangements in Death City, since I had no parents. I think she must have really wanted to get rid of me.

Apparently, I would be staying in the dungeons of the DWMA. I was a bit unsettled when Lady Death informed me of this, but she proceeded to try and calm my uncertainty.

"Don't worry," she said soothingly, "Lots of kids stay in the dungeons! It's like a party every night."

"Oh, well that's good to hear," I replied sarcastically. "Don't they have dorms, like us?"

"I'm afraid not." She gave me what I'm guessing was a sympathetic look.

"Fine, whatever," I said, shoving my suitcase in the back of the cab. "Dungeons it is."

She smiled innocently. "Well, you better get going, Miss Marshal. You don't wanna be late for your new start at the DWMA. Wouldn't make a very good first impression, now would it?"

"No, it wouldn't." I forced a smile. "Well, see ya I guess."

Lady Death took me by surprise by embracing me in a hug. "Goodbye Melody." She pulled away and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Good luck." Then she turned and floated back inside the academy.

I gulped, taking one last look at the academy where I had spent the last eight years of my life. In a way, this place had become my home. The academy had taken me in after my parents were attacked by a kishin in 2004. I was only seven.

I slowly walked up to the academy, running my fingers along its old red bricks. I bit my lip. It had been my home, but the place was never big enough for me. I was destined for bigger and better things. Things hopefully awaiting me at the DWMA.

I turned on my heel, putting the DWSA behind me. Putting Bernice Brown behind me. Putting Lady Death behind me. I approached the cab and stepped inside. Lady Death had already paid my cab fare. "Let's get on the road," I told the cab driver. "Death Weapon Meister Academy, here I come."

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We came to a stop on the cobblestone street, and I stepped out of the cab. I stared up in awestruck wonder at the sight in front of me. There, atop much too many steps to count, was a large, strange-looking building I'm guessing was the DWMA. The majority of it was made up of several black towers that were red and pointy at the top, and there were two giant lit candles sticking out of the side. Then there were three large white skulls at what I'm guessing was the entrance to the building, and a large circular cobblestone area in front of them that met the hundreds of steps.

"Goodluck, kid," the cab driver said as I began to drag my suitcase up the steps. I waved and he drove away. As I climbed the steps, I went over in my head what to say to Lord Death when I got to his office. _Hi, I'm Melody, the new student. I came from your ex-wife's school. Where am I supposed to go?_ No, that didn't seem right to say. Nothing seemed right. The sun grinned at me from its spot in the sky, and I could feel its heat on my back. I felt myself start to sweat. Just great, I always sweat. When I overheat, when I get nervous, pretty much anytime. It's so gross.

When I got to the top step, I heaved my suitcase onto the cobblestone and collapsed. "Who are you?" I heard, and sat up again instantly. I turned around to see who had spoken. I saw a boy, short but very muscular, with electric blue hair that stuck out at odd angles. His face was scrunched up and he stood with his hands on his hips staring at me, a menacing stance. "Hey you, carrot top!"

I touched my red hair gingerly; it had been a while since anyone had called me "carrot top." I frowned.

"Are you deaf?" the boy continued shouting obnoxiously. His voice didn't match his body, being so muscular you would expect a deeper voice that what he had. Instead it was somewhat girly; I figured it was because he was young. "I asked who you where! No one ignores a great assassin like Black Star!"

"Black Star, stop it!" It was then I noticed the girl, tall and curvy, with long black hair that was tied up. She stood behind the boy named Black Star and blushed, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said, stepping towards me. "He's been cooped up in class all day and we just stepped out to get some fresh air. I'm afraid he's always like this, so don't take it personal." She held out her hand and helped me up. "I'm Tsubaki, that idiot over there is Black Star, and you are?"

"Melody," I said, letting go of her hand and picking up my suitcase.

"What a pretty name," she said, smiling blissfully. "Weapon or meister?"

"Weapon," I said as we started towards the skulls that marked the entrance. Black Star trailed behind us, scowling. I felt his eyeballs burning into the back of my head; I tried to shrug it off.

"Me too!" Tsubaki chirped. I felt bad for being a bit annoyed by her, she was being unusually nice to me and I appreciated that, but she was just too cheerful. And I don't do cheerful. "Black Star is my meister," she went on. "And my best friend."

I nodded solemnly, wishing she would stop talking so I could find my way to Lord Death's office. We walked through the skulls mouth into the building and she said, "So I'm guessing you're new?"

I nodded again. "Yep, and I need to find Lord Death's office."

"Oh, I can take you there if you'd like," she offered pleasantly.

"Great, thanks."

"So, where you from, Melody?" she asked, turning down a long corridor. The ceilings inside were high and the halls were lined with large doors I'm guessing led to classrooms.

"Death Weapon Sister Academy."

Tsubaki's expression looked puzzled. "I've never heard of it, where is it?"

"In the mountains outside of Death City."

"The mountains," she murmured. "Lord Death says those are dangerous."

"I've been in the mountains," Black Star piped up behind us, "And I never saw this 'Sister Academy.' You're fibbing, carrot top!"

"Am not." I shot him a death glare over my shoulder. "It's an academy only for weapon girls. It's run by Lady Death."

Tsubaki's eyes got wide. "Lord Death has a lady?"

"Ex-wife," I corrected. Behind us, Black Star let out a loud cackle.

"Another fib?" he said loudly. "If you're trying to impress us it isn't working so well."

"I'm not making it up," I said to Black Star. His eyes were narrowed, it looked like he was about to attack me. Then Tsubaki stopped.

"Here is Lord Death's office," she said. I was looking at a large red door at the very end of the hallway.

"Thanks," I said again, and I put my hand on the brass doorknob.

"See you around." Tsubaki turned and dragged Black Star back down the hallway, all the while he was going on about being the greatest assassin ever and surpassing God. I shook my head and turned back to the door, took a deep breath, opened it and stepped inside.

The room I found myself in was very long and looked like a blue sky scattered with clouds. There were multiple archways one after another leading to a platform where Lord Death stood in front of a mirror. As I shut the door, it echoed through the room. "Melody Marshal," he said without turning around. His voice was strange, not the kind of voice you'd expect a grim reaper to have. "About time. How is the Lady?"

"Um, good," I said, not sure how to answer a question about his ex.

He turned around. "I see you have your suitcase still. Why haven't you put it in your dungeon room yet?"

"Well um, I didn't know how to get there," I said.

"Why are you acting so shy, Melody?" Lord Death asked quizzically. "Lady Death tells me you are the farthest thing from shy. Don't be intimidated by my academy. After all, it is the greatest academy in the world."

I scrunched my nose up after hearing this statement, which sounded awfully braggy.

"Come now, Miss Marshal," he went on, "Here is your class schedule." He handed me a scrap of paper that seemed to appear out of thin air. "My Death Scythe will take your suitcase to your dungeon for you. Spirit!"

A man with bright red hair came running into the room. "Yes Lord Death?" he said, panting. "Do you have another mission for me and Stein? Please don't make me go anywhere with him again, please! He will rearrange my insides!" he was practically begging on his knees.

"Spirit, pull yourself together," Lord Death ordered. "Take this young woman's luggage to her dungeon, room 346."

"Yes sir." Spirit took my suitcase and nodded to me, then left promptly.

"Now, your first class would be Dr. Stein's. It's on the second floor, second door on the right after you step off the staircase. He is already expecting you so hurry along now. Good luck miss Marshal."

I nodded to him, and turned and walked back through the archways, clutching my schedule in my sweaty palm. I closed his office door behind me and walked down the corridor towards the stairway. I leapt up the stairs two at a time, then turned to my right, walked past the first door and came to the second. I heard voices from inside. Out of them I heard Black Star, loud and obnoxious. There was no missing his voice. I lingered there a moment more, wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts, and knocked on the door.

I heard wheels rolling, then the door opened, and a man was sitting there on a wheely chair in front of me. I was shocked at the sight of him, there was scars and stitches all over his body, but the most frightening thing was the large metal screw sticking out of his head around his gray hair. This had to be Dr. Stein.

"You must be the new student," he said loud enough for the whole class to hear. There was a collective sound of curiosity from the students. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Melody Marshal," I said.

"Well, Melody," Dr. Stein said, grinning lopsidedly. "Welcome to my class!" The class cheered in unison. Dr. Stein looked up towards the students and pointed to an empty seat. "You can go sit up there by Black Star."

I nearly died.


	3. Chapter 3: First Day

**Short chapter, but boooyyy do i have things planned(;**

**Big thanks to Confetti108 for being the first to review on both chapters! cookies for you, and anyone else who reviews this chapter!**

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Stein finished his lesson quickly; turns out he focused a lot on the topic of dissection. He closed with, "You may talk for the rest of the class time while I dissect this zebra. Anyone that wants to help, can come over and lend a hand."

I peeked over the desk to see if he was dissecting a _real_ zebra—and sure enough there was a half-dead zebra strapped to a dissection table in the corner, with Stein and a couple kids crowded around. I grimaced, thinking of how inhumane that was.

"Oh you don't want to go down there, trust me."

I turned around to see who was talking to me. It was a girl, tall and skinny with gorgeous blonde hair and large, innocent emerald eyes. She was dressed in a typical schoolgirl getup, yellow sweater vest and red pleated skirt. Her hair was in pigtails.

"Maka Albarn," she said cheerfully, holding out her hand towards me. I shook it slowly, timidly, wondering if everyone around here was always so cheerful.

"Nice to meet you, Maka. Can I ask you something?"

"Mhm," she perked up, waiting for my question.

"Why wouldn't I want to go down there?"

Her expression darkened. "Uh, well, let's just say Dr. Stein is a little…eccentric. Dissection is his passion. And…it's not too pretty." I watched her eyes slide in the direction of Stein and the other students, and her face nearly turned green.

I nodded in understanding.

"Carrot top!"

I turned around to see Black Star jeering at me from atop the row of desks behind us. He was among an assortment of other students, a few of whom were laughing.

"She even answers to it," chided a strong looking boy with messy white hair and piercing red eyes. Beside me, Maka glowered.

"Soul!" she cried, and tossed a book at the white-haired boy's head.

"Ah, come on, Maka!" the boy named Soul whined while rubbing the book-shaped dent in his head. Everyone laughed.

"Soul got Maka-chopped!" a short, ditzy girl with bobbed yellow hair sang.

"Well, Maka, are you going to introduce Carrot Top to the gang, or what?" Black Star asked, standing on top of the desks with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, this is idiot #1 and idiot #2," she pointed to Soul and Black Star.

"Which one am I, number one or number two?" Soul asked.

"I'm number one, of course," Black Star said loudly. "I'm always number one!"

"Anyways," Maka said, interrupting both of them. "That's Soul, and that's Black Star."

"I met Black Star already," I said. "Unfortunately."

She giggled quietly. "Really?"

"Yeah, I met Tsubaki too," I pointed to the girl in the corner who I had met earlier that day. She smiled sweetly at me.

"Oh, great! Tsubaki's one of my best friends," Maka said. "And then there's Crona," she pointed to the shy, pink-haired boy next to Tsubaki, who blushed when Maka mentioned him, "And Liz and Patty." She pointed to two girls wearing identical outfits that must have been sisters, one of them being the ditzy girl who teased Soul a minute before. They both smiled at me and said "Hey" in unison. Maka added, "And I'm afraid Kid left just a few minutes ago for a conference with his father."

"Kid?"

"Death the Kid."

I remembered my conversation with Lady Death in her office the day I was expelled. Death the Kid.

"Lady Death's son," I blurted out.

"Lady? You mean Lord?" Maka looked puzzled.

I shook my head. "Lady Death, Lord Death's ex-wife. Have none of you heard of her?"

"Oh, is she on about that again?" Black Star asked, irritated. "She's making the whole thing up, don't listen to a thing she's saying. There is no Lady Death."

"So you're saying Lord Death birthed Death the Kid himself?" I snapped at Black Star. He withdrew, obviously not expecting that.

He blinked once, a blank expression on his usually superior face. "I suppose not…"

The girl named Liz interrupted. "What were you saying about Lady Death?"

"She's Lord Death's ex-wife," I said slowly, as if it were obvious.

"What else do you know about her?"

"A lot. I used to see her every day. She ran my old school, Death Weapon Sister Academy."

The group shared collective looks.

"Patty, did Kid ever mention a mother to you?" Liz asked her sister. Patty shook her head quickly, the way a child would.

"Nu uh, not ever," Patty replied.

Liz looked back to me. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Kid here?"

"I think," I said slowly. Maybe they were right. After all, the whole group looked pretty skeptical, and if they were this Kid's best friends then shouldn't they know, if anyone? But why would Lady Death lie? "I'm not making it up," I said, but even I could hear the doubt in my voice. "I mean…Lady Death told me herself."

Right then the bell rang, and I watched as everyone stood up and began to file out of the classroom. "We're all having dinner at mine and Soul's apartment today," said Maka, and I fell into step beside her. "If you want to come you can."

"Sure, sounds like fun." I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"What's your next class?"

"Uhh," I pulled out my crinkled schedule, "Miss Marie's."

"Mine too!" Maka beamed. "Come with me, I'll get you there."

I wasn't sure what to think of this Maka girl yet, but it looked like it might already be too late. You know, like when you're new at a school with no friends yet, and the first person who proclaims herself as your friend, you're stuck with forever? Like that.

But as Maka was dragging me through the hallways of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, I couldn't help but smile. The students seemed nice enough, and Maka's gang were a great group of friends, even if they all either thought I was schizophrenic or had a fibbing problem. I told myself I would prove to them I was right though, I was up for anything to prove it. Anything to keep me occupied in my free time at Death City. One thing was for sure, it was going to be a long school year.

Heck, it was going to be a long school day.


	4. Chapter 4: Dinner Party

**i know a lot of people are favoriting and alerting this story, which is unsettling thinking that i only have two reviewers -_- so please, if you're reading this, please review! reviews make you happy dont they? cause they make me happy, and they make me want to write more. so if you want me to write more, review!**

**also, the thing about crona removing the black blood and ragnarok from his body, yes i know that didn't really happen, but it goes along with my storyline so just go along with it.**

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"What is Carrot Top doing here?" Black Star's face scrunched up when he looked up and saw me. It was a small but homely apartment, and it looked like almost everyone was there. They were gathered around the table in the living room, dressed casually in weekend clothes instead of the school clothes I had met them in. I however, was wearing the same gray v-neck and denim shorts as I had been earlier. I felt like I stuck out.

"I invited her," Maka said indignantly, in response to Black Star's question, as she set a plate down at the table. She turned to me and smiled. "We have dinner here every Friday. Go ahead, sit down, the food will be ready in a few.

I slowly sat down between Patty and the pink-haired boy whose name I seemed to have forgotten. Patty smiled at me. "Maka's not the best cook but you should probably smile and pretend you like it anyway, because she's kind of sensitive."

Maka, who was standing about two feet away from Patty while she said this, narrowed her eyes and clutched the plate in her hands.

"Oops, did Maka hear that?" Patty covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry."

"Um, Maka I have to use the bathroom," I piped up.

"Down the hall and to the right," she said. I nodded, got up and left the room.

On my way back from the bathroom, I stopped in the hallway and listened. Just around the corner everyone was sitting and talking. I didn't mean to be eavesdropping but I heard my name and it caught my attention.

"No one mention to Kid what Melody said about his mother," Maka was saying warily. "He might get offended." It was silent for a moment. "And make sure that plate is symmetrical," she added quickly.

I wiped my hands on my shorts and walked casually back into the room, pretending I heard no part of that conversation whatever. "Melody," Tsubaki said, "I have a question for you."

"And what would that be?" I nodded to her as I sat back down in my spot.

"What was your old school like?"

I grumbled, no sure how to answer this question without saying anything about Lord Death. "Well, it was an all girl's school, weapons only. It was the only school I ever attended before today, so really it's the only thing I know."

"Oh, where did you live?"

"At the school," I answered plainly.

Tsubaki looked puzzled. "But what about your parents?"

The vision of the kishin flashed through my memory. My voice choked as I tried to answer, searched for words, any words. "Uh, they're—"

I was cut off by the door swinging open. There stood a boy who looked exactly like the boy in the photo hanging on Lady Death's wall, only several years older. The same three white stripes on the right side of his coal black hair, and golden eyes, only he was wearing a suit. He was classy, despite being late. "Sorry I'm late, dear friends," he said properly, straightening his jacket. "The children at the ice cream shop on the corner were in an asymmetrical line. I had to straighten it out or it might have been the end of me."

"Doesn't matter Kid," Maka said cheerfully, "Come sit."

Kid nodded and went to sit next to Liz, and then he saw me. "Who are you?" he asked.

"This is Melody, she's new to the academy," Maka explained.

"Nice to meet you Melody, I am Death the Kid, son of Lord Death himself." After looking at me for a moment his golden eyes widened. "Your hair…"

"Yeah she's a ginger!" Black Star cackled with amusement.

"No…it's asymmetrical! Your part is on your left side instead of in the middle! What an abomination!" Kid's hands started shaking. I began to get a bit worried, so for Kid's sake I pulled the hair tie off my wrist and tied up my hair in a high ponytail.

"Is that better?" I asked Kid.

"Your ponytail is leaning more to the left than the right." His eye twitched.

"Hey Kid, would you like some sushi?" Liz interrupted.

"Sushi? Of course! Get me four and put them in a symmetrical pattern on my plate." A moment later after Liz had done so, he said, "Ah, symmetry. Such beauty."

"Doesn't take much to distract him," Soul mumbled in my direction. I laughed.

I my head, I thanked Kid for showing up when he did. I wasn't ready to explain to everyone about my parents and have that awkward moment when they all feel sorry for me. However, I was anxious to hear about all of them. As we ate dinner that night I learned a lot.

"Who here is a weapon?" I asked.

Tsubaki, Soul, Liz and Patty all answered at the same time with someone along the lines of "me" or "I am." I nodded.

"And who are your meisters?"

"Liz and Patty are my weapons," Kid said. "They are my twin pistols. Such great symmetrical weapons. If only they were the same in human form." He sighed. I watched Liz and Patty narrow their eyes and shift uncomfortably. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing; this group of friends sure was amusing.

"Tsubaki is my weapon," Black Star said loudly, "The Enchanted Sword! Which makes me the Enchanted Swordsman. You jealous, Carrot Top?" he sneered at me.

"Black Star, calm down," Tsubaki said quietly. Black Star obeyed, and sat back in his seat.

"Soul is my weapon," Maka said, "I'm going to turn him into a death scythe." My gaze went to Soul, who grinned, showing off his razor sharp teeth.

"Scythe?" I asked. "Me too."

"Looks like we got competition, Maka," Soul said, but he was looking straight at me while he said it. His red eyes glinted.

"Don't be silly, she doesn't even have a meister," Black Star interjected. I shook off their conversation and turned to the pink haired boy whose name still managed to slip my mind.

"What about you?" I asked. He blushed when I addressed him. I got the feeling he didn't talk much.

"Oh, Crona is a meister," Maka answered for him. _Crona, that's his name!_

"Who's his weapon?"

"Well…" Maka hesitated. "It's kind of a long story."

"Let's hear it." I shot a smile in Crona's direction, which caused his blush to darken. He pulled his knees up to his face to hide it.

Maka looked towards Crona, who nodded quickly to her. "Crona's mother was a witch," Maka started, "And she wanted to turn Crona into a kishin. So she melted down the demon sword called Ragnarok and put it into Crona's blood, which then became black blood. From time to time Ragnarok turned into a big scary dark guy that would come out of Crona's back—then Crona lost a lot of black blood so Ragnarok got smaller and a lot less scary. But now that all the trouble with Crona's mother and the black blood and the kishin is over with, Crona decided he didn't want the black blood or Ragnarok anymore, so he got an operation from Dr. Stein, a blood transfusion to have most of the black blood replaced with regular blood, and with it went Ragnarok. So as of right now Crona has no weapon until he finds one that matches his soul wavelength."

I looked at Crona, in disbelief that he could have had anything dangerous inside of him at any point. The poor boy looked like he couldn't hurt a fly. He must have been through a lot, and I felt sad for him. Comfortingly, I put my hand on his knee and smiled at him. He gave me a faint, shy smile back.

The rest of the night was entertaining. We ate dessert afterwards and played charades, then the boys left and Maka told me the girls were having a sleepover and invited me to stay too. I told her I had to go unpack my things in the dungeon and get settled. I really wanted to stay but I had a feeling it was getting time to unwind and get accustomed to my surroundings finally.

It was dark out but I finally found my way back to the academy, and made my way to the dungeons. Creepy underground cells or not, I was ready for a good nights sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Red

**Important note:  
**

**one of my amazing, wonderful reviewers asked me to please not change Crona too much, and I would like to make a promise to them, to all of you sexy people, that i will try my hardest not to. Crona is by far my favorite character in the whole entire series and i would never want to change him to make any of you unhappy because well he just wouldnt be crona, and that is why i love him, because he is crona! but since hes such a special character it is quite hard to keep his personality down right so if you guys find crona to be acting OOC in even the least way possible please inform me cause i really appreciate it and could use all the help with him i can get. thanks.(:**

**also, i would like to tell you guys that all though Black Star seems to be a bit too much of a jerk and a little OOC as well, there is a reason for that, which is coming up very soon. so for all you black star lovers that are feeling injusticed about his unruly behavior, just have patience my young padwan.(; lol i'm a dork.  
**

**thanks so much to everyone that reviewed on chapter four, getting on and having four new very good reviews just made my day, and i got started on this chapter right away! ****i like being able to connect with my readers and keep them happy, and although its still my story and in the end i'm going to do what i want with it, i'll take as much help as i can get. i absolutely LOVE hearing your guyses opinions, and you do give great advice, so keep em going(:** keep it up guys, love love love!  


* * *

The dungeons were eerily silent except for the occasional drip of water from a pipe somewhere. I shuddered, clutching my arms and trying to keep my mind off of scary scenarios that my overactive imagination tends to make up when I'm in situations like this. When Lady Death had enrolled me, she told me that my dungeon was number 1187. I wondered how they could possibly have _that_ many dungeons, and then when I finally saw them myself I realized they started at the 1000s. So I only had to pass 187 to get to mine. Luckily they had numbers engraved on the doors.

I finally got to number 1187 and was pulling the key Lord Death gave me out of my pocket when I heard a voice. "Hey."

I turned, afraid to look all the way around to see who it was. "H-hello?"

"Hey, in here." It sounded like it was coming from the dungeon next to mine. I stepped towards it. The door was open a crack.

"Who's there?"

"It's me. In here."

"Who's 'me'?" Carefully, I peered around the corner of the open doorway. There, in the corner of the dungeon, was Crona, curled up with his knees to his face. I realized this was the first time I had heard him speak.

"Crona, what are you—" My question died off and I shook my head.

"I feel safer tucked in the corner like this," he replied. It sounded like he was trying to be optimistic. The upbeat tone he was trying to portray just didn't quite fit with him.

"Safer from what?"

He shrugged his skinny shoulders.

I stood there for a moment, dumbstruck, then I sat down next to him.

The room was plain and empty, one bed, one dresser, one measly light bulb. I figured his things were all probably in the dresser but for some reason I got the feeling he probably didn't have very many belongings. There was also a window with bars on it. I wondered how long he had been living here, if it had been much longer before I came. Once again I felt sad for the boy.

It was quiet and I could still hear that pipe water dripping. I decided to try and start a conversation.

"Crona, your mother…"

Crona shifted uncomfortably, I realized maybe this was a touchy subject. "Lady Medusa."

"The witch?"

He nodded. I decided to try and start a conversation about something else. I didn't know much about him, so I started with what Maka had told me.

"What was this Ragnarok like? Was he very mean?"

"Really really mean! He would punch me and pull my hair and hurt me all the time! But sometimes now I miss him because when he was little he wasn't that bad." Crona's expression turned somber again.

"Well, when they took him out of you, what did they do with him?"

"I'm not quite sure. I think they sent him somewhere. Somewhere with important people, people like Lord Death and Dr. Stein."

I nodded, and it was silent.

"I still have some black blood in me," he whispered, his eyes wide. "Not a lot, but some. About 40% of my blood stream. I mean, they couldn't have taken it all out, that would have killed me, right?" He nervously twirled a strand of his pink hair. "But anyway, I still go mad when the black blood is triggered. It doesn't happen as much as it used to, but still... I go mad…"

I felt bad about him confessing this; it couldn't have been something he was too proud of. "I was kicked out of my old school for violence," I offered plainly. "I sort of go mad when I get angry, so I guess we have similar situations."

He gave me a small, shy smile, but I could still sense the doubt in his demeanor. "I guess so."

I stood up. "I should probably be getting to bed now." I offered him a hand up.

He shook his head. "I think I'll just stay here in my corner."

"Alright." I headed towards the door. "See ya tomorrow, dungeon mate."

I put my key in my dungeon door and opened it to see that Spirit had set my suitcase neatly on top of my made bed. Other than that and one empty dresser there was nothing else in the dungeon room. I sighed, realizing how drab and depressing it was, like Crona's. I decided I would start unpacking tomorrow, maybe I would ask Maka and Tsubaki to help me with it or something. Then maybe we could go shopping because I was starting to realize there was a lot I would have to do without otherwise.

I pulled the chain for the light bulb, picked up my suitcase and heaved it into the corner. I rifled through it for some pajama pants and a sweatshirt, and then pulled them on. I brushed through my strawberry colored hair and realized that I was going to have to take a shower tomorrow—once I asked someone where the showers were. This place was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Since it was Friday night I didn't have to worry about school the next day, but I was so exhausted I pretty much passed out as soon as my head hit the pillowcase. I dreamt about carrots and half-dead zebras.

* * *

"Melody, wake up! Rise n shine darling!"

"WAKEY WAKEY EGGS N BACEY!"

I woke up to a pounding on my door.

"Good morning sunshine, the earth says hello!" Tsubaki's voice cooed from outside.

"CARROT TOP, YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED BEFORE I BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN!"

"Black Star, stop it!"

I laughed, slid out of bed, and dragged my zombie self to the door. I opened it slowly. "Yes, what do you two want?" I looked past them and saw Maka and Soul. "Or…you four…"

"We are going out for breakfast," Maka announced. "And you are coming with us."

"You guys…" I looked away, at the ground. "I look like I just got done rolling around in dumpsters with hobos."

"That's alright," Maka said, business-like. "We'll give you a half hour to get cleaned up. Showers are down your hall and to the right. Half hour starts now."

"I wasn't aware kidnappers gave you a time frame…" I turned back inside my dungeon and shut the door in their faces.

Half hour later, I had showered, done my hair and makeup, dressed, and we were off. "Where exactly are we getting breakfast?" I asked as we walked briskly down the halls of the academy.

"A pancake house," Maka chirped.

"There's pancake houses in Death City?" I asked, bemused.

"Of course! Death City has everything!" Maka turned around and looked at me. "Is this the first time you've been in the City Limits?"

"No, I used to sneak here on weekends, but the journey from the mountains was too long and the trips were getting riskier and riskier. A lot of kishins."

"You ever been face to face with a kishin?" Black Star asked haughtily.

I nodded solemnly. "Loads a times."

"I helped fight Asura." Black Star puffed up his chest and walked with his legs out in front of him in a sort of march.

"Asura? You mean that kishin a while back who tried to take over the world with madness? I thought a girl defeated him."

Everyone looked at Maka.

"Wait…" I looked back and forth between them and Maka. "It was you? That's crazy, you must be good!"

Maka beamed. "It was nothing."

Soul gave her a look.

"I mean…it was scary. As hell. But…I had bravery, and that's all I really needed. That's all I'll ever really need, to conquer anything."

I smiled and nodded to her. "That's a good thing to tell yourself."

"Well, bravery's a good thing to have. Anyway, it's in the past now, and the pancake house is right around the corner so you better get yourself hungry." She grinned and the four of them practically ran right inside the building. Must be a pretty good place. I looked up at the sign that said "Sam's Pancakes." Simple enough.

I followed the others inside, the bell hanging to the door _dinged_ as it opened and shut. The others were already sitting in a booth, and Tsubaki scooched over to make room next to her.

"I've never really ever been to a pancake house before..." I trailed of quietly.

"Really?" Black Star breathed in disbelief. "Try everything!"

"Oh no, Black Star, that's really not necessary-" I tried arguing but when the waitress came he ordered me everything anyway.

I stared at all the food in front of me, feeling a bit lost. "Ah, Black Star, are you sure you don't want any of this?"

"Of course I do!" Black Star clamored. He began snatching things off his plate and practically inhaling them. One glance at Soul told me him and Black Star had similar eating habits. Suddenly I wasn't so hungry anymore.

"Black Star, have I ever told you how I got expelled from my old school?" I asked suddenly.

Black Star stopped, half of a pancake hanging limp out of his mouth. He swallowed it whole without chewing and said, "You got expelled?"

I nodded. "Mhm, why do you think I transferred here?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, just tell me the damn story, ginger!"

I sighed patiently and said, "Alright, alright. Well there was this girl at my old school, her name was Bernice, and she was huuuge."

Black Star snickered. "Did you punch her lights out?"

I grinned. "All in good time, dude. Anyway. She was always harassing me and I didn't do shit to her, you know? She was horrible just cause she wanted to be. Well one day I got sick of it so I decided to teach her a lesson. She knew I was a strong weapon but she didn't want to get it through her thick head that I was better than her-poor girl, the rest of us were sweet weapons like scythes and swords and daggers and throwing stars, but poor Bernice was stuck with a slingshot."

Black Star and Soul burst out laughing. I chuckled and continued with my story.

"So she flung one of her rocks at me, cause well, that's what slingshots do, but I deflected it with my blade, and guess where it went?" I had their undivided attention so I was giving this story all I had, making it sound as cool and badass as possible. I had never been one that purposely tried to impress people but there was something about these guys that made me want to show them all I've got. Like it was some sort of contest.

"Where?" Black Star and Soul asked in unison.

"Right in her mouth." They both laughed again. "So then I grabbed her and put my blade to her neck and I told her, 'Listen here, _Bernybee_,' that was her nickname, 'If you ever mess with me again you better have a pretty good reason, cause I'll kick your ass.' Then I turned around, and BAM. The principal was right there. I knew I was fucked. So off I was sent, to Death Weapon Meister Academy. A place where I can 'better use my talents'."

"Badass!" Black Star commended, eyes gleaming. Soul nodded in agreement.

"Ah, it was nothing." I dismissed it with a wave of my hand.

"Hey, you know what Red?" Black Star said. I'm guessing this was one of his red head nicknames for me. "You're not half bad." He grinned. "I always kinda wanted a ginger friend."

"And I always wanted a friend with strange looking blue hair."

Everyone laughed.


	6. Chapter 6: Second Day

**I am absolutely SWAMPED with exam reviews and studying tonight, so i apologize over and over again for such a short chapter! sorry sorry sorry! but i love you guys, so it makes up for it, right?**

**on the brightside, things are about to get REAAALLL good.(; so buckle up and enjoy the ride.**

**PS, if you find any typos please point them out, my keyboard is acting up -_-**

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The rest of the weekend went by almost uneventfully. On Saturday afternoon when I got back from the pancake house, I finally unpacked my stuff, and then on Sunday the girls and I all went shopping. Things were looking up and I thought that if my life stayed like this for a while then maybe I could finally be satisfied for once. I was happy, I had friends, and I was going somewhere with my life.

I was sitting in Dr. Stein's class on Monday morning when Tsubaki coughed awkwardly and said, "Melody, something's been bugging me ever since we went to the pancake house on Saturday…"

I furrowed my brow at her. "Yeah Tsubaki? What is it?"

"Well…" she drew in a breath, looked around to make sure no one was listening, then leaned closer to me and asked under her breath, "Did you mean what you said to Black Star about being expelled? Did that really happen?"

I was a bit taken aback by her question at first, had I oversold it that bad that the entire story seemed made up to anyone who didn't have a pea-sized brain like Black Star's? "Uh, no, that story was real." I awkwardly twirled my pencil between my thumb and forefinger. "I may have exaggerated it a little but all that really did happen. Just less dramatized."

Her expression looked sympathetic. "Well, Melody, you should probably stop exaggerating so much because people are starting to…get ideas about you…"

"Ideas?" I didn't understand what she was saying. "What ideas?"

"Like…that you tend to…make things up."

I was silent, in shock, trying to process this. "All because of that Lady Death thing? That was true, I swear!"

"Oh, I believe you," she said quickly. "But you have to admit, it all does seem a little farfetched… And we hardly know you; I mean you've been our friend for what, a few days now?"

She looked apologetic, but the words still stung. They were the closest things to friends I'd ever had, the first people after my parents that I thought had truly cared about me. I guess I was wrong if something dumb like this could change all that so soon.

"So who thinks I'm a liar? Black Star? Maka?" I probably shouldn't have pried so hard, but my brain didn't seem to be working so well at the moment. "Soul? Crona? What about you Tsubaki, do you think I'm a liar?"

"No, I don't!" To be honest Tsubaki looked a little hurt.

"Who then?" I was angry, which is not good. I don't do smart things when I'm angry. I don't say smart things when I'm angry. And this was starting to show.

She shook her head, looking like she was about to cry. It was an action that told me she wasn't going to answer my question, much less speak to me anymore. She stood up and went to sit by Liz and Patty.

I hardly paid any attention to Stein's lesson that day; I was too distracted by all the thoughts running through my head. It was only my second day at the academy and I had already managed to get pissed off. It was only my second day and already I had managed to screw everything up…

Pull yourself together, I told myself. It will all blow over.

Then suddenly I was pulled out of my thoughts by Stein calling my name. I snapped my head up. He was at the front of the classroom waiting for me. I hurried out of my seat and down to the front of the classroom. The entire class had their attention focused on me. "Get back to your work," Stein ordered to them. "This is private."

Everyone busied themselves and pretended they weren't eavesdropping.

"I think I may have found you a partner, Melody," he said. "You know Crona right?" I gazed over Stein's shoulder at an awkward and gangly Crona standing in the corner. He blushed when we made eye contact.

"Yeah…why? Is he my partner?"

"I believe it could work. Your soul wavelengths could possibly be a surprisingly good match. If it's alright with you I'd like to have your first training session today right after school to see how well you resonate together."

"In this room, right after school?" I asked. Stein nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"What about you, Crona?" He looked back at Crona who nodded meekly.

I smiled. "See you guys later then," I said. Then the ball rang, and I walked back up to my desk to grab my stuff. Soul was still hanging around even though everyone else was already leaving the classroom. We made eye contact for a moment but I said nothing, worried he thought badly of me like Tsubaki had said.

"Hey, Red," he said, as I picked up my books. It shocked me, and I nearly dropped them.

"Hm?" I turned in his direction and brushed past him, not looking him in the eye.

"Don't listen to what they're saying," he said quickly, walking after me down the row of desks. "I believe you."

I stood at the bottom of the desks and gave him a questioning look.

He nodded reassuringly. "I believe you," he repeated.

"Move along guys, I got another class coming in soon," Stein's voice urged.

I turned and walked out the door. Soul came after me.

"A while back, Kid and I were talking and he mentioned something about his mother," Soul continued. "Something about how she lives in the mountains. That's where you came from, right? So you're telling the truth."

"So why didn't you tell the others that?"

He sighed. "I tried. They didn't believe me, didn't even want to listen to what I had to say. Maka is so damn stubborn…"

"So what's the point of this?" We stopped in front of the stairway. "To cheer me up? Because it's not working very well."

"No." His red eyes gleamed mischievously. "We're going to prove to them that you're right. We're going to make them believe you."

I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "And how exactly are we going to do that?"

"I think I have an idea," he said. "I'll come by your dungeon later so we can talk strategy."

"Wait a while after school though because I have some sort of soul match test with Crona today," I said quickly.

"Nice job Ginge, got yourself a meister finally?" Soul smirked.

I laughed nervously. "Let's hope."


	7. Chapter 7: Likable

**For the sake of any gingers that might possibly be reading this story, i have absolutely NOTHING against gingers. i love gingers, i wish i was one. both of my best friends happen to be gingers. i chose the main character of this story to be a ginger, because i like gingers, and wanted to honor them. so you should feel very special that i honored you in that way.(;**

**PS, i'm not uploading chapter 8 unless i get at least five reviews on this chapter. love you guys xoxo mwah thanks bye(;**

**PSS, i'm considering renaming this story, unfortunately i'm absolutely stuck on what to call it, so if you have any ideas for titles include them in your review and i might consider them! thanks so much, it helps a lot.(:**

**Also, i'm kinda confused on the proper form of "likable" because according to "dictionary .com", both "likable" and "likeable" are correct, but i thought it was "likable" because i thought you were supposed to drop the e? if you know why dictionary .com is choosing to be so wishy-washy today please clear this up for me because its confusing me -_-**

* * *

The day went by fast, and soon enough I was back in Professor Stein's classroom with Crona.

"The thing that made me believe you two would make a good team," Stein was explaining, while he walked around us in a circle turning the large screw in his head, "Is because you're similar in some ways but also very different in other ways."

I snuck a sideways glance at Crona, who was nibbling on his fingers nervously.

Stein went on. "For example, Melody, you have a very extroverted personality, while Crona on the other hand, is more introverted. That is a good thing to have as a difference, because two extroverts together or two introverts together wouldn't work very well, for obvious reasons. Secondly, you're also different in the instance of fights. Melody has a very aggressive nature and likes to fight, however Crona while in his right mind tends to want to avoid fights more, because of his more pacifistic nature. This is also a good thing because Crona most likely won't start any unnecessary fights, however some fights are necessary and if there happens to be one which Crona refuses to fight just for silly reasons, then Melody will most likely get him to fight in some way."

"Now, your similarities. As you both probably already know, Crona has black blood in him which, when hardened makes him very strong, and almost immune to any blows. But his black blood only hardens if the madness is triggered. That's where you come in, Melody. Your soul tells me you have a very short temper, so you must get angry easily, very often, correct? And when you fight your anger almost becomes a sort of madness. So I figure if you get angry enough, it will trigger his madness, then you will be an even more powerful partnership."

Stein finished, looking satisfied with himself as he looked at Crona, then at me. We were both silent.

"Melody. Weapon form," Stein ordered. I did as I was told, and quickly transformed myself into scythe form.

"Crona. Pick her up."

Crona timidly bent down, grabbed me by my handle, and picked me off the ground. His grip was a little loose, and his hands were shaky. I wasn't scared he was going to drop me though, but I probably should have been. This was my first time training with a meister and for some reason I wasn't scared at all. With Crona holding me, I felt powerful.

Crona looked like he didn't know what to do with me. "Feel like it fits in your hands?" Stein asked. Crona's usually worried or nervous expression turned thoughtful. After a moment, he nodded shyly. Stein grinned. "Good, that's great. Your souls are a great match; I can see it right now. Melody, how do you feel?"

"Like I could take on the fricken world," I said. Stein laughed.

"You should probably wait on that one," he suggested, amused. "Okay, you two. You're officially a team. Your first training session is tomorrow, same place, same time. Come ready to train hardcore. You're gonna get angry and you're gonna go mad. That way we can see just how strong you really are together."

I jumped out of Crona's hands and transformed myself back into my human form. "Thanks Professor Stein," I said cheerfully. Oh my Death, this place was starting to get to me.

"Welcome. See you tomorrow."

Crona and I were pretty much going to the same place, so we walked there together. "Soul's stopping by my dungeon today," I said out of the blue while we made our way down the stairs leading to the dungeons.

"Why's that?" Crona asked quietly.

I shrugged. "He wants to go over some plan."

"What plan?" Crona's eyes widened. "Sorry, I'm being nosy aren't I?" He tugged on a strand of his pink hair. "I'm sorry. I'm such a moron…"

I laughed a little. "Crona, relax. I don't mind telling you, I could tell you anything. The thing is, I don't exactly know anyway, I would tell you if I did."

"Ah." He nodded, relieved.

"We're partners now, Crona," I said amiably, nudging him gently in the side. "You can trust me."

A small, reassured smile appeared on his face. "Thanks."

I went to say "you're welcome" but I trailed off when we approached our dungeons and I took note of Soul leaning against my dungeon door casually with his hands in his pockets. He perked up when he saw me coming.

"'Bout time," he said playfully, grinning with his razor-sharp teeth. He noticed Crona with me. "Well? Do we have the newest weapon-meister team to the DWMA?"

"Why yes we do," his grin was contagious, as I proceeded to unlock my dungeon door.

"Great, can't wait to see you guys in action!"

I looked to Crona. He looked awkward, but hopeful, and I felt bad about kinda ditching him for Soul, but I didn't think Soul would want Crona hanging around us while we talked "strategy", because something gave me the feeling Soul was going to take this very seriously. "See you, Crona," I said, giving him a smile. He nodded in response and disappeared inside his room, closing the door behind him.

As I shut my own door behind me, I asked Soul, "How long were you waiting?"

"Oh, not long," he said, taking a seat on the floor.

"Well, I told you not to come too soon." I smirked as I sat on the floor across from him. It was hard, cold, and concrete. I grabbed a blanket off my bed and laid that on the ground beneath me.

"I don't listen very well." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Obviously," I said. "So…why exactly did you want us to have this meeting?"

He placed his hands on the concrete behind him and leaned back, perfectly at ease. "Well you've got this story that nobody believes, right? So I started thinking, what is a way we could get them to believe you? Then I thought, give them proof! Now how could we give them proof?"

I gave him a blank look. When he said nothing, I asked, "How?"

"We go to the DWSA and we get proof! Duh!"

My mouth nearly dropped open. "Soul, you...you can't be serious."

A grin spread across his face and he nodded. "Oh, I am."

I sat for a moment trying to absorb this. "So we're breaking into the school I was expelled from? And what are we supposed to get for proof anyway?"

"I dunno, you tell me. You should know what would work best."

I thought about the school. The library, the cafeteria, the dorms, Lady Death's office...I thought about my last day here. Then, suddenly, a lightbulb. I gasped.

"What, what is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Lady Death has a few photos in her office," I explained. "One of her holding the plaque for the academy, and another with her, Lord Death, and Kid as a child. Do you think those would be proof enough?"

"Of course!" Soul exclaimed. "That's perfect, you're a genius, Firetruck!" Another reference to my hair?

I didn't mind, but I was curious. "Why do you guys call me all those names?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh." He shrugged. "Cause you're a ginger," he teased. "Why else?"

"Well yeah, but..." I fingered a strand of my hair. "For real. Why?"

He looked thoughtful. "I dunno. I like gingers," he admitted. "They're likable."

I scrunched up my face. "Me? Likable? What are you on?"

He laughed out loud. "I'm not on anything, I swear! Why don't you see yourself as likable?"

His question made me uncomfortable, and I wasn't really sure how to answer it. I shrugged in reply.

He in turn said nothing. I could feel his eyes on me, studying me. "What are you hiding, Ginge?" he murmured.

"I'm not hiding anything," I said quickly. "Now tell me when we can put our plan into action cause the sooner we get this figured out the sooner you leave."

He took a quick intake of breath. "Ooh, ginger's feisty," he chuckled at his own joke. "I was thinking we could leave town by Thursday night, maybe be back by Saturday morning."

"Skipping class on Friday?"

"Yeah, that a problem?" Soul challenged. "If you want we can leave Friday instead -"

"No. Thursday's perfect."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Alright, Marshal, whatever you say. We're travelling by wheels. Be ready at 7 pm on Thursday 'cause I'll come by to pick you up and we need to make a clean getaway."

I wondered how he was going to manage that, but before I could ask he had stood up, said "see you tomorrow Reddy," and left. I threw myself onto my bed, buried my head in my pillow and groaned, frustrated. I didn't want to break into Lady Death's office but I guessed it was something I had to do if I wanted to stay happy here with my friends; if I wanted them to trust me.

Exhausted, I rolled onto my back and laid there, staring at the ceiling until my eyelids slid shut and i drifted off.


	8. Chapter 8: Not Meister Problems

**I asked for five reviews on chapter seven before i posted chapter eight, but i only got two -_- come on i know you guys can do better! i had so many reviewers for a while and now only two D: anyways its been quite a while since i updated, i have like chapters 9 and 10 written already while waiting for you guys to review...smh, oh well(;**

**CloverScar: in reply to your review for chapter 7, you are correct, but not yet my dear, have patience.(;**

**i'm still trying to find a new title for this story. i'm thinking maybe "the truth about gingers", what do you guys think?(;**

**enjoyyy.**

* * *

The rest of the week went by painstakingly slow. Crona and I had rough training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Other than Crona and Soul and occasionally Maka, no one would speak to me. Soul didn't speak to me much during school though, but he stopped by my dungeon on Wednesday for a few minutes and we talked then. But during school he would only look at me from across a row of desks and mouth the word "Thursday" and wink every so often to let me know our plan was still a go. Then in class on Thursday morning he brushed past me and whispered "tonight" so no one else could hear, then when I looked at him he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. I almost facepalmed right then and there.

On Thursday afternoon after Crona and I had finished training, I was sitting on the steps outside the DWMA trying to clear my head when I heard his voice behind me.

"Um…" he stuttered. "I need to talk to you…"

"Yeah?" I looked over my shoulder at him. "Bout what?"

"I know what you and Soul are planning on doing," he blurted out. Then he looked as if he were sorry he said it.

I stood up and faced him. "Yeah, and how'd you find that out?" He must have been eavesdropping on us the day before.

He shook his head. "That doesn't matter. But I'm coming with you."

His statement took me by surprise. I didn't think Crona would be up for anything that might be possibly dangerous or troublesome. "Crona, I don't think that's necessary -"

"No. It is necessary." His facial expression was grave. "I'm your meister, we're supposed to do these things together. You can't just ditch me like that, it's not right."

I sighed, who knew a boy so shy could be so stubborn. "I just don't think it's your kind of trip, that's all. And I don't think Soul would be okay with it either. The less tagalongs, the quicker we can do it without getting caught." I shook my head and turned away from him, so I didn't have to see the hurt expression on his face. "The answer's no and that's final."

* * *

I wasn't sure what exactly to bring on our trip to break into the academy, so I paced around my room for a few hours until I was sure that my little backpack was full of all the necessary items. It was about 6:55 by the time I finished, so I sat on my bed, waiting for Soul to come pick me up.

Then I heard a rumbling engine outside my window. My window wasn't bars like Crona's, instead it had two small doors that slid open. I got up to open the window to see what the rumbling was from, then I heard, "Hey Ginge, open up."

I rolled my eyes and opened the window to see Soul there, smirking. "Climb up, Princess," he teased, holding his hand out to help me up. I tossed my bag at his face but he caught it and set it on the ground.

"I don't need help," I protested, clutching the sides of the window and hoisting myself up. I squeezed myself through the window and onto the dirt on the other side. Soul watched, amused.

"Looks to me like you did," he joked sarcastically.

"Shut up." I whacked him playfully. "Clean getaway remember? Let's get on the road." I flung my backpack onto my shoulder and stood up. "Where's your 'wheels'?"

"Right here," he said, hopping on a motorcycle. When I made no move to get on the motorcycle, he patted the spot behind him and said, "Come on Red, let's 'get on the road'."

"I...I've never ridden a motorcycle before..."

He laughed comically. "Don't be such a baby Red, it's just a motorcycle. It's not gonna eat you." He tossed me a helmet. Nervously I pulled it on, and he laughed again as my fumbling fingers attempted to buckle the strap. He started to say, "It doesn't need to be..." but he stopped when the sound of footsteps echoed from around the corner. "Hurry," he said under his breath. I left the helmet strap unbuckled and climbed on the motorcycle behind him.

"Hang on tight," he said, revving the engine. I had just barely got my arms around him when the motorcycle took off.

* * *

Once we had gotten far enough away from the academy, we stopped in the outskirts of Death City to have dinner before starting our long journey through the desert. It was a small diner, almost empty except for an old couple. "We had to come this far to eat because we might have seen someone we knew in the City," he explained between bites of whatever he was stuffing his face with. I wondered quietly if boys always had such a big appetite.

I wondered what Crona was doing right then. Probably sitting in his corner, maybe sleeping. "Hey, what time is it?" I asked suddenly. The sky outside was dark and starry, it was sometime at night. Soul perked up, then looked towards the clock on the wall of the diner. "Uh, almost ten. Why?"

I propped my arm up on the table and rested my hand under my chin, staring out the window. "Nothing." Then I spoke up again. "How did it take us three hours to drive through just Death City?"

He shrugged. "It's a big city," he said plainly.

I gave him a puzzled look. "How long is the drive from here to the DWSA?"

"I have never been to the DWSA so I don't know for sure, but my GPS tells me its about 8 hours."

"So what's the schedule for the trip?"

"Well," he said, "We're staying in a hotel near here for the night, then tomorrow morning we're leaving at 10 am and traveling for what should be 8 hours if my GPS is correct and we don't make any stops, then we should get to the academy around 6 pm. Give it an hour or two for breaking in and getting the proof, then we blow the joint somewhere around 8 pm Friday night if all goes as planned. Then we travel for as long as we can until we get tired, so we have to camp in the desert or the mountains, depending which we're in by the time we decide to stop for the night. Then we wake up early Saturday morning to complete the journey, and we'll be back before noon on Saturday." He grinned at his own perfectly developed ingenious plan.

"Great, sounds great Soul." I sighed. "Thanks for this. For everything."

He nodded. "No problem, Ginge."

When he noticed I wasn't eating what I had ordered, he said, "You might want to eat something, it'll be your last meal until tomorrow night, and whatever you eat then you'll be cooking yourself on a campfire."

I looked gloomily down at my plate. "Just not hungry," I murmured.

He scrutinized me, narrowing his eyes. "What's on your mind?"

I debated whether or not I should tell him. "Crona," I blurted out. Well, the cat's out of the bag.

"Ah," he said discerningly, leaning back in his seat. "Meister problems."

"No," I scoffed, "Not meister problems."

Soul raised his eyebrows. "What then?"

"It's..." I shook my head. "Complicated."

He frowned, dissatisfied. "That's alright, you don't have to tell me. Just try not to be so depressing, okay? This is not the kind a trip that you can sulk the whole way." He chuckled, and I forced a smile. "Still, you should probably eat that. Or I will."

Silently, I pushed my plate towards him.


	9. Chapter 9: The Jump

**Just thought i'd remind all of you guys, my wonderful reviewers, that i love you oh so much! id be nothing without you(:**

**Confetti108: thats alright, i understand, i have been swamped with exams lately as well! O:**

**Person: well i was only considering the title "The Truth About Gingers" because of the irony of how she's telling the truth in the story and they don't believe her, but i guess it kinda does make it seem like all redheads are the same. which they're not(;**

**What do you guys think of the title "Boundless"? kinda random and has nothing to do with the story but i like it(;**

**anywho, enjoy! this was probably my favorite chapter to write by far. but wait till you guys get to chapter 11. mwahahaha.(;**

* * *

The ride from the diner to the hotel was a short one, but from one glance at the hotel I could tell it was going to be a long night.

"What a dump," I murmured, pulling off my helmet and staring at the front of the building.

"Hey," Soul said, "I know a guy who will get us in for free. Don't knock it till you try it." He parked the motorcycle around the back.

"So who exactly is this guy that will get us in for free?" I asked, climbing off the motorcycle and setting my helmet on one of the motorcycle's handlebars.

As Soul did the same, he replied, "Well his name starts with S and ends with L…"

I stared at him, uncomprehending. "Soul…that's your name."

He nodded, grinning. "Exactly. Follow me." He led me around to the side of the building where there was a small, narrow alleyway between the hotel and the building next to it. There was a metal ladder on the side of the said building, the lowest rung some ways off the ground. "Ladies first," Soul said, gesturing towards the ladder. I adjusted my backpack on my back and grabbed the rung of the ladder, hoisting myself up and beginning the climb. Once I was high enough, Soul started climbing after me. When I got to the top of the ladder, I pulled myself up onto the roof and collapsed.

"Get up, Ginge," Soul ordered. I started rolling on the roof groaning in protest. I probably looked like an idiot, but I was exhausted. Soul added, "We still gotta make the jump."

"The jump?" I sat up instantly. Soul was grinning. "What jump?"

He turned and pointed, and I followed his finger over to the roof of the hotel. It wasn't a far jump, the buildings were only five or six feet apart. But still. My breath caught in my throat. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, dead serious." Soul said with a stone cold expression on his face. "Do you want to sleep tonight or what?"

I whined. "Can't I just sleep here?"

"No Ginge, you're jumping or I'm pushing you."

I stood up quickly, clutching my arms to my chest. "I'm guessing you're going to make me go first again?"

He nodded. "You guessed right."

"Okay." I backed up, giving myself space. I looked down at my knees and ordered them to stop shaking. Soul laughed, but stopped when he caught my glare. I took a deep breath and started running, then when I got to the edge of the building I jumped as far as I could. Thankfully I landed on my feet on the other side, but then my legs buckled beneath me and I went tumbling, ending up lying on my stomach face-down on the dirty hotel roof. I could hear Soul laughing from the other side.

I stood up, quickly brushed myself off, and spat, "Let's see you do it, hot shot!"

As if he wanted to prove something, he stepped back, gave himself a running start, then jumped. He landed on his feet and for a moment it looked like he was going to stay that way, then his foot slid from underneath him and he landed on his butt. We both looked at each other for a moment then burst out laughing.

When we calmed down he stood, punched me playfully on the arm and said, "Nice one, Marshal."

I punched him back. "You too, Evans."

Then he turned serious, and starting searching the roof for something. He almost stumbled across a small person-sized square with a handle and a lock on it, then he knelt down and said, "A-ha. Found ya."

I knelt down next to him. "You got a bobby pin?" he asked. I nodded, and pulled one out of my hair. He grabbed it and proceeded to use it to try and pick the lock of the square door.

"Soul, that's not going to work," I told him. "It never does..." My words died in my throat as he grabbed the handle of the door and lifted it up, looking at me and smirking.

"What's not going to work, hmm?" he asked mockingly. I rolled my eyes.

Looking down into the doorway it was dark but there was another metal ladder against what seemed to be a wall. "Well, you know my policy," Soul said, gesturing to the ladder. "Ladies first."

"Soul, no," I hissed, clutching his shoulder in terror. "What if there's a murderer in there or something?"

He facepalmed. "Don't be such a chicken, Mel."

I gave him a look.

"Fine. I'll go first." He stepped into the doorway and placed his foot on the ladder. "But if I die it's on your hands."

"I think I can handle that," I replied as he began climbing down into the darkness. I wasn't sure if I should follow him but a moment later light came flooding out of the doorway.

"See, no murderers," he called to me. "Now come on."

I gulped, and started my climb down the ladder. When I got to the bottom I stepped off onto the ground, which was a dirty but comfortable carpet. It probably only seemed comfortable because I was so tired.

The room was small and cramped, with one bed, one dresser, one TV set, and one couch. Also a door leading to what I'm guessing was a bathroom, then of course the door leading out to the hotel's hallway. "I'll take the couch," Soul said, tossing his bag on the floor.

I glanced from the couch to the bed. "Don't be silly," I said, "There's plenty of room -"

"Nah," he protested, flopping himself on the couch. "You need your _beauty sleep_." He smirked. "Girls."

"Alright," I said warily. I crawled into the bed. It felt cold and lonely, and wrong. Soul turned out the light and I laid there for a while, trying to catch sleep. It wouldn't come.

"Soul," I said. He mumbled in reply. "You awake?"

"Am now," he griped.

I sucked in my breath.

"Count sheep," he suggested, monotone. Silently, I rolled my eyes. One long minute later he added, "Are you homesick or something?"

"No," I said quickly. "You can't be homesick if you don't have a home."

A moment later I felt him sit on the bed next to me. "The DWMA is your home," he said.

"No." I stared at the ceiling. _Don't cry, _I told myself. _Do not fucking cry. What are you, a baby? Melody Marshal does not cry. _I bit my lip, and I think Soul sensed that I was upset.

He took a strand of my hair between his fingers and played with it. "It's so red," he said absentmindedly. "How does it become that red? Did you eat too much carrot-flavored baby food when you were little?"

I laughed. "Soul, what are -" I started, but he cut me off by putting his hand on my mouth.

"Shh, Ginge," he ordered. "Go to sleep. Now."

"Fine," I said, muffled. I shut my eyes tight and he removed his hand from my mouth, resuming his fascination with my hair.

"Good choice," he said. He added something else but I didn't hear because by that point I was out.


	10. Chapter 10: That's Unfortunate

**Title is now officially changed to Boundless. i think i like it this way muuuch betttterr(:**

**In reply to RadioKidd: you can watch all of the episodes dubbed on netflix! thats where i watched them all. but of course you need an account and a credit card -_- lolol i use my moms(;**

**_WARNING:_ This chapter contains classic soul eater events and situations. nosebleeds may ensue.(;**

**PS, i felt bad for doing this to pooor cronaaa, but it had to be doneee. ):**

* * *

I woke up the next morning to light shining through the open square in the ceiling. There was a note on the bed next to me.

"Never thought I'd be in this situation," I said sarcastically to myself, picking up the note.

_Got hungry, went to go find breakfast._ Mm, shocker. _Relax, don't go all psycho-ginger cause you can't find me. Be back soon. Soul._

I smiled to myself and rolled my eyes, crumpling up the note and tossing it at the wall. Boys. I figured I might as well take advantage of my time alone, so I went in the bathroom and took a shower.

When I got out I realized I had forgotten to take my stuff into the bathroom, so I wrapped my towel around myself and opened the bathroom door. When I walked out I saw Soul had returned. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"Oh, Soul," I said. "You're back." Then I remembered I was only in a towel, and I smirked when I saw the expression on Soul's face. I grabbed my bag and added, "Don't stare too long, your nose will start bleeding."

He covered his face, flustered. "Too late." I laughed out loud and he hollered, "Just go get dressed already!"

"Alright, hotshot," still laughing, I retreated to the bathroom.

Before I shut the door I heard him mumble to himself, "Pull yourself together Evans, cool guys see almost-naked women all the time."

"I bet they do," I shot back through the door.

"Gah!" he cried. "You weren't supposed to hear that!"

"Just be glad I remembered the towel." I laughed as I heard him cry out again. I quickly finished getting dressed and returned to the bedroom to see Soul sitting on the floor with a pile of bloody tissues next to him. I laughed again. "Was it really that bad?"

"Shut up, Red!"

"Yeah, red's right," I joked, pointing to the bloody tissues. "Anywho, where's breakfast?"

He pulled a candy bar out of his pocket. "Eat quick, it's almost ten. We gotta get back on the road."

"Candy for breakfast, mm." I tossed it in the air and caught it. "Nutritional." Then I added, "Oh, we can't leave right away, I'm gonna be a while." I grabbed my bag and sauntered back into the bathroom.

"What, why?" he called after me. He appeared in the doorway as I pulled my makeup out of my bag.

"Girl stuff."

He groaned and rolled his eyes, but didn't leave. He watched me as I put on my eyeliner.

"Why are you watching me?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Curious. Maka doesn't wear makeup, so I've never really seen how it's done?"

I looked at him inquiringly. "Interested in makeup, Soul? I can put some on you if you want." I stepped towards him threateningly with the eyeliner.

"Oh no you don't," he said, and dodged it. "If you're almost done I'll go start the motorcycle."

"Kay."

I ate my candy bar on the way out to the motorcycle.

"Where to now, hotshot?" I asked as we drove out of the city limits.

"The desert," he replied. "Brace yourself Red, this is gonna be a while."

I wrapped my arms tighter around him. "Make sure to stay focused on your driving," I murmured, smirking. "Don't get caught up thinking about earlier."

His hands tightened on the handlebars. "Keep it up and my nose will bleed all over the place," he grumbled. I laughed out loud, burying my face in his shoulder.

We stopped about four hours later, halfway through the trip, to take a quick break and relax in the sun. We sat in the sand a few feet away from the motorcycle, and Soul watched me curiously as I chugged my water bottle. I finished, wiped my mouth lazily, and asked, "Never seen a girl chug before?"

He chuckled. "Gee Red, you sure are a strange one aren't ya."

I scrunched up my face at him. "How?"

He shook his head. "You just are..." he trailed off, his eyes focusing on something in the distance. "Is that...Crona?"

"What?" I whipped my head around. There was a little black speck on the horizon, I had no clue how he could tell it was Crona from that far away. "My eyesight must be worse than I thought," I said, then I recognized the little pink speck that must have been Crona's hair. In a sudden fit of anger, I stood up, and started storming across the desert towards him. Soul trailed behind me, trying to keep up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shouted when I got within distance of Crona. His eyes were wide and perplexed.

"Warning you," he replied breathlessly. He slowed when I approached him. I grabbed his shoulders as if it would make my words sink into his brain easier.

"I thought I told you you couldn't come," I spat.

Crona looked frightened, but I was angry and this didn't seem to register in my brain. Soul gently took my arm and pried me away from Crona.

"Warning us about what?" Soul asked, holding me back with one hand. "Crona, why are you here?"

He wrung his hands nervously. "Well, uh," he started, his pink eyebrows knitted together in worry. "I was only following you guys through the city, I wasn't going to go any further than the city limits. But then when I was just about to turn around and go back to the DWMA...I saw it..." his expression turned dark.

"Saw what?" Soul demanded. "Spit it out, Crona."

"It was big, really big," Crona breathed. "All scaly with red eyes and claws. I ran as fast as I could to warn you guys but it's gaining on me."

"Soul, what's he talking about?" I asked anxiously, tugging on his arm.

"A kishin," Soul replied solemnly. My heart stopped in my chest.

"A...a kishin?" I repeated. "Out here?" Soul nodded.

"I'm afraid it's gaining on us," Crona added.

"Then there's no outrunning it." Soul had no trace of fear in his voice. I looked towards the West, where Crona had followed us from, and saw a large looming object in the distance. It was thundering towards us at breathtaking speed. "Get ready guys. We're going to have to fight." His arm transformed into his scythe's blade.

I went into weapon form myself and jumped into Crona's hands. The large kishin was now close enough for us to fight, so Soul ran to it and attempted to slice it, but it merely whacked him away.

"Come on, Crona," I yelled. "Get with the program!"

"Y-yes ma'am," Crona stuttered, and lunged forward. He managed one slice on the monster's upper thigh before he too was swatted away by its gigantic scaly hands.

"Hey Red," Soul yelled, standing up and clutching his head.

"Yeah?"

"Get angry."

I huffed. "Soul I can't just 'get angry' for no reason, there has to be -"

"_Just fucking get angry already_!" he screamed. It took me by surprise.

"_Fuck you, Soul_!" I shot back. "I'm trying, dammit!"

The monster was lumbering towards us. Soul leaped up and sliced it across the stomach, but it hardly did any damage. The monster caught Soul in mid-air and tossed him towards the ground like a rag doll.

"Soul!" I cried. It looked like it would be a while till Soul could even stand up again. "Fuck this," I muttered, and I knew Soul's pressuring had worked, I was getting angry. Very angry.

Almost as if proving Stein's theory about our partnership, Crona started giggling. The madness had been triggered. "What a big monster," Crona observed. The monster let out a deafening roar in reply.

"Yeah, that monster is bad, very bad," I urged. "We gotta slice him into pieces, understood Crona?"

Crona nodded and I felt his grip on my handle tighten, and he took a stance. _Alright, _I thought, _Now we know what we're doing._

"I'm afraid I have to kill you now," Crona said calmly. He took a running leap towards the monster, and dodged its flying claws. One of the claws managed to catch him around the side but he hardened his black blood so the injury healed itself. "My, what large claws you have," Crona murmured, then grinned sadistically as he began slicing the monster back and forth. The monster roared in agony and plucked Crona out of the air, sending him sprawling across the sand. Crona sat up awkwardly and tilted his head to the side. "My, your a mean monster," he observed, then stood up again, still with his tight hold on my handle.

So quick that you could hardly see it coming, the monsters hand came out of nowhere and flew right towards Crona. I didn't think Crona had enough black blood in his system to harden in order to protect himself from an attack like that. Stein's words _protect your meister no matter what_ flashed through my head momentarily, and quick as a flash I became human again and threw myself in front of Crona, taking the blow for him. I heard him gasp behind me.

A jagged, searing pain suddenly shot through my whole body, and I dropped to the ground. The blood pouring from me was irrelevant compared to the pain. I watched as Soul recovered himself and yelled something, but my brain didn't process what it was. Crona was kneeling beside me, shaking me. I wished he would go away.

Soul proceeded to run up behind the monster and slice him right down the middle. The monster disappeared and was replaced by a glowing red orb. Soul's scythe blade disappeared and was replaced by his regular arm, and he reached out and grabbed the red orb. Then he joined Crona by my side. "Melody, you're going to be fine," he reassured me, but I could see his ruby red eyes were wide in concern. He grabbed my hand. "Just fine."

I was angry. I just wanted to scream at Crona, he wasn't even supposed to be here. "Go home," I choked out.

"What?" Crona asked, his voice shaking.

"Go home," I said louder. "Leave me alone, Crona!" He shook his head, looking like he was going to say something, but nothing came out. I sat up, coughing, despite the fact that it hurt to move an inch. Gathering all my strength, I screamed, "GO HOME YOU STUPID PINK-HAIRED FREAK, GO HOME AND SIT IN YOUR DAMN CORNER AND CRY!"

I watched as his large teal eyes filled with tears, and he stood up. "FINE!" he hollered, at his breaking point. I had never seen him yell like that. "You're a horrible weapon anyway, I wish Stein had never paired us together! I WISH I HAD RAGNAROK BACK!"

Then he ran off, in the direction he had come from. As I watched him go, lying there with my head on Soul's lap, the whole world seemed like it was tilted sideways. My vision started to blur.

"Crona come back, she didn't mean it!" Soul shouted after him, then panicked and turned his attention to me. "Stay with me, Red," he said urgently, moving my red hair away from my face. Then he turned his attention back to Crona and shouted again, "Crona stop, come back!"

But it was no use. The last thing I saw before my vision went black was Crona's black and pink figure disappearing into the horizon.


	11. Chapter 11: Sink Quickly

**I have a lot of people alerting this story but not as many reviewing. if you read this then review, pretty please! you'll get coookieees.(;**

**heart yaaa.**

**if you find any typos please notify meeee.**

* * *

I felt warmth on my face, and heard the crackling of a fire. The sight of the starry night sky and a grinning crescent moon greeted me.

When I attempted to sit up, pain tore through me.

"Whoa, take it easy Red," Soul said, at my side instantly. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, supporting me.

Everything came back to me then. I looked down. My wounds had been bandaged. I looked around. We weren't in the desert anymore. We were in the middle of the forest. The forest in the mountains, to be exact.

"Soul, how did you…" I murmured.

"Tied you to the motorcycle and dragged you," he explained calmly. I gasped, and he burst out laughing. "Just kidding! I carried you."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "And the motorcycle?"

"Walked it all the way here."

"While carrying me?"

"Mmhmm. Over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes."

"Damn, Soul."

He grinned widely.

"You didn't have to do all that. You should have turned around and gone back to the academy," I said quietly.

He laughed. "We're almost to the DWSA, it would have been a waste."

I sighed, staring at the fire. "You made that too?" I asked.

"No, your hair caught it on fire."

I smiled. "Funny."

"I know." He paused. "How ya feeling?"

I rubbed my head. "Like I got mauled by a bear," I groaned. "Or a kishin the size of a bear."

"Well, that's what kishins do. You're lucky, you could be in a lot worse shape than you are." He held something out to me. "Oh yeah, this belongs to you."

I took the small glowing red orb out of his hands. "What…what is it?"

"The kishin's soul."

I brought it up to my face to investigate it. "What do I do with it?"

He laughed. "You eat it. Ninety-eight more plus one witch soul and you'll be a Death Scythe."

"Like…Maka's father?"

"Yeah, like him," Soul grumbled.

Timidly, I brought the soul to my mouth and swallowed it. It tasted plain, but felt like jell-o going down. "Good, eh?" Soul asked. I nodded quickly in agreement.

"Soul, why do we eat the kishin souls?" I asked a moment later.

"To keep them from eating human souls," he replied, as if it were obvious.

"But doesn't that just make us as bad as them?"

"No," he said, "Because we eat them to punish them. They eat innocent human souls just cause they're hungry and have nothing better to do. And they're monsters."

I nodded, showing I understood. "Do they just eat humans? They eat meisters and weapons sometimes too, right?"

"Yeah, sometimes," he said. "Why?"

"Because my parents were both weapons..." I said quietly.

"Were? What do you mean, Red?" he asked, his crimson eyes questioning.

I looked away, attempting to hide the tears I knew were coming. Silently I cursed myself, I was _such_ a fucking baby.

"What happened to your parents, Mel?" Soul asked. I had his attention now. Great. "Why did you say you don't have a home, and why did you live at the DWSA since you were young?" He reached out and took a strand of my fiery hair between his fingers. "What's your story?"

My story? I sighed. "I was seven," I started. "We lived in this pretty little village not too far from here. It was called Meadowbrook, I think. One day my mom told me I was going to have a little brother or sister. I was so excited, so my dad took us fishing to celeberate. That might sound strange to you, but I _loved_ fishing when I was little." The words felt bitter on my tongue. It had been so long since I had told this story. Five whole years. I would have to say it was a lot easier to tell Lady Death.

"So we were out on the lake in our little red canoe," I continued. "My dad had just caught a big one. Then..." My words caught in my throat.

"Then what?" Soul urged.

I gulped down the lump in my throat. "Then it came."

"It?"

"The..._kishin._" I said the word as if it would catch my tongue on fire. "It looked like a dinosaur, one of the flying ones. I had seen plenty kishins before but never this up close and never one that could _fly_." The memory was so vivid it was as if it had only happened yesterday. "My mom saw it first," I continued. "She screamed and pointed. It saw us then, and flew right towards us. My dad pushed me out of the canoe and under the water, and told me to sink. Sink quickly. I...I was so scared, but I did as I was told. He told my mom the same thing but she...she didn't sink as well as me. When I was underwater I could still hear their screams. I held my breath for as long as I could, then when I finally came up for air they were gone, and the canoe was shredded in half." I shut my eyes tight as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I clenched my fists and muttered, "I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could go back in time to rip that kishin to shreds."

Soul seemed speechless. My eyes slowly rose to meet his. Thankfully, they weren't sympathetic, like I had been fearing. I would rather him not feel sorry for me. Instead, his expression was stony, his eyebrows knitted together. For a split second there I had a spark of fear that he would think I was lying like the others did. Then suddenly, he surprised me with a hug, and my body collided against his as he wrapped his arms around me. He said nothing as I sobbed into his shoulder, clutching the fabric of his shirt in my fists.

"I could've ended up just like them today," I sniffled. "I wish I had."

He pulled away so he could look at my face and say, "I don't."

I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. "Why not?"

"Because you're a badass ginger with a smokin' hot bod and a great sense of humor," he said with a mischievous gleam in his eye. I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not, and I tried to recover from the shock of that quickly.

"Really?" I asked, trying to mask how flattered I was. Playing it cool.

"Yeah, now go back to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow to finish our journey," he said as he laid back next to the fire with his arms folded underneath his head.

I sat there awake for a while, listening to him snoring. I hugged my arms around myself. I'd never really had much contact with boys before coming to the DWMA, since my old school was an all-girls academy, of course. But he was the only boy who had ever complimented me.

I frowned and told myself not to over-think things, which I have a tendency to do. I laid down on the opposite side of the fire and counted the stars until I fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12: Busted

**Hope you liiiikeeee.(;**

* * *

"How much longer is the ride?" I asked as Soul started the motorcycle.

"About two hours." We took off down the trail in the woods. By this point I definitely wanted to turn around and go back to the DWMA and forget this whole thing ever happened. But Soul told me it was too late to quit now.

"We were supposed to have been back by now, weren't we?" I asked.

Soul nodded. "Oh well. Minor setbacks."

_Minor?_ I thought to myself. _I wouldn't call getting attacked by a kishin and almost getting sliced in half minor…_

As the ride grew longer, the path got wider, and the trees became more spread out. I started recognizing things. I squeezed my arms tighter around Soul nervously.

"Don't be scared, Red," Soul told me. "We're only breaking into the academy you were expelled from and stealing things from the headmaster that expelled you." He laughed. "No biggy."

I scowled and felt like that would have been a good time to punch him.

Then we saw it. Huge, brick, and looming, it towered over us like a giant. "Not as cool as the DWMA," Soul mumbled. I agreed.

He stopped the motorcycle and I climbed off. My wounds ached.

"Now, what's the best way into this place?" Soul asked, business-like.

"We could go in through the library," I said, walking around the side of the school.

Soul looked thoughtful. "Might take a while..." he said. "Besides, the manlier way to do it would be to just crash in through the window, grab the stuff, and run out."

I facepalmed. "Library it is." I dragged him by the collar around the perimeter of the building. The library window was already open. "They must have known we were coming," I murmured to myself.

"Ladies first," Soul said, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes, well used to this by now. The window was about four or five feet off the ground.

"Gimme a boost," I said to Soul. He nodded and hoisted me up onto the window ledge, then he gave me a small shove and I squeaked as I tumbled inside. I heard him laughing from outside and I popped my head out the window to glare at him. He stopped laughing and climbed inside after me.

I stood up and brushed myself off. "Where to now, oh faithful leader?" Soul quipped.

"This way." I grabbed his arm and pulled him around the bookshelves. The librarian was staring at me as if I'd come back from the dead. "Hey, Shelly," I chirped as I blew past her desk with Soul in tow. I think Shelly fainted. "Poor old woman," I said over my shoulder to Soul. "Looks like the sight of the wily former problem student Melody Marshal was too much to handle. Bless her soul."

Soul laughed. "You're horrible, Red."

I smirked to myself as I led the way out of the library and down the main hallway. Things started to come back to me as I passed my old classrooms. It was a Saturday so very few students were out in the hallways. They were probably all hanging out in their dorms or gone to town. It felt eerily lonely, as our footsteps echoed through the corridors. The few students that were there took no notice of us.

"Wait. Down there," I said, and screeched to a halt. Down a hall to my left, was Lady Death's office.

"Is she in there?" Soul asked.

"Let's find out." I ran down the hallway and stopped in front of the door. I peered inside the small rectangular window. "Yes..."

He frowned. "What do we do now?"

"Lure her out," I replied casually.

A shark-tooth grin spread across his face. "And how exactly do we -"

I cut him off. "Like this." I stepped back from the door, took a deep breath, and hollered, "KISHIN! KISHIN IN THE GARDEN!"

The few students in the halls screamed and stopped what they were doing and looked around desperately to see who had announced that, and the ones in dorms or classrooms peeked their heads out to see what was going in. Within moments the commotion had escalated. I whirled around to an astonished Soul, laughed and hissed, "Come on!" and yanked him around the corner into a dark, empty classroom just before the door to Lady Death's door flew open. I peered out of the doorway just enough to see the back of her cloak whisk out of sight.

Soul and I fell against the wall, laughing and catching our breath.

"Troublemaker," he teased. He stood in front of me, his red eyes glinting with excitement.

"Who, me? Psh, no," I bantered.

"Yes," he said quietly, stepping closer. "Don't argue with me, you'll lose." If he wasn't smirking, from the way he said it I would've thought he was angry.

I laughed. "Soul, I..." My words died in my throat.

He was so close and his eyes were shining, and he had me pinned up against the wall and his hands were on my hips - when did those get there? - and my heart was pounding in my chest and he was leaning closer...

Then my brain seemed to catch up with real life. Suddenly I remembered the reason why we had come here in the first place, and I pried myself away. "Come on, we gotta hurry," I mumbled over my shoulder to him as I hurried out of the room. He followed me into Lady Death's office. I stepped towards the pictures on the wall, finding that my brain was having a hard time functioning because it was still trying to register the shock that Soul and I had almost...

"Melody, stop!"

I froze where I was, then turned around slowly. There in the window was Tsubaki. And Black Star. And Maka, and Kid, and Liz and Patty. And Crona. What were they doing here? Had they followed us? _No_, I realized, _Crona had gone back to get them after the kishin attack._ My mouth was suddenly very dry and when I wanted to speak nothing would come out and I stood there with my mouth wide open like an idiot.

Tsubaki said, "Melody, we believe you now. You don't have to do this."

I scowled. "Yeah, you believe me now that you've seen it yourself. But you couldn't believe me before when I was telling the truth?"

"If they'd just asked me in the first place I would have confirmed everything you told them," Kid said matter-of-factly, narrowing his eyes at the others.

"Shut up, Kid," Liz grumbled.

"We're sorry," Tsubaki continued. "Super super sorry and we should have believed you before because that's what friends do."

Maka nodded in agreement. "Please come home with us," she added.

I scoffed. "Home?" I shook my head, looking at the ground. "The DWMA is not my home."

"We'll make it your home," Maka pleaded. "You can move in with me and Soul."

"What?" Soul and I said at the same time. Shocked, I glanced at him, only to find he was looking at me. I looked away quickly, a blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"Let's just get out of here," Maka finished. I looked at everyone's faces. They all looked sincere. I bit my lip, then slowly nodded and went to the window, Soul following close behind.

"Atta girl, carrot top," Black Star said cheerily as he started helping me out the window.

Suddenly, Maka gasped. "She's coming; I can feel her soul presence. Hurry guys!"

Then the door swung open. I stopped dead in my tracks, one leg out the window, one leg in.

"What's going on here?" Lady Death asked. My heart sank into my stomach.

Busted.


	13. Chapter 13: Seriously?

**If you have this on alerts, then please review. that's all i ask, takes like two seconds. thanks.**

**One more thing..(;**

**Go youtube search the video "Kid has a WTF moment (english)" and watch! it is by far my most favorite moment in the whole entire anime.(; i recorded it on my phone and watch it everytime i want a laugh. lolol.**

**Anywho, hope you enjoy this chapter! its pretty...shocking.(;**

* * *

"Explain yourselves."

I looked around at everyone sitting gathered around Lady Death's desk. She sat facing us, drumming her fingers on the desktop, waiting for our answer.

Soul spoke up. "It was all my idea, ma'am," he said boldly.

"All…_your_ idea?" she asked, pointing to him with a bony skeleton finger. He nodded. "And you are?"

"Soul Eater Evans."

"Hmm." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "DWMA students?"

Soul nodded again.

"That troublesome ex-husband of mine…" she murmured. "Soul Eater, tell me the story."

"Well," he started, taking a deep breath. "Nobody believed Red—I mean Melody—so I convinced her to—"

"Wait, just a moment," Lady Death interrupted, holding up her skeleton hand. "What exactly did nobody believe?"

"Well…her story," he replied awkwardly, furrowing his eyebrows. He clutched the arms of his seat. He was visibly frustrated.

"Let me handle this, Soul," I said, shooting him a glance. He nodded once and backed off.

Lady Death turned her attention to me. "Yes Miss Marshal, let's hear it."

"Well after you expelled me, I had sort of a rough start at the DWMA. When asked what school I'd come from I answered the Death Weapon Sister Academy, and nobody had even heard of it. They didn't believe you existed either…"

Lady Death made a shocked noise. "Preposterous. Did you think Lord Death birthed Kid himself?"

Kid gasped, horrified, as the others shifted awkwardly.

"At any rate," Lady Death continued, "Didn't you ever think of asking Kid if the story was true?"

"Erm, we didn't want to offend him," Tsubaki said meekly.

Lady Death laughed outwardly. "How considerate. You sure are a bunch of children, aren't you? Miss Marshal, continue."

"So that genius over there, Soul, he came up with this master plan," out of the corner of my eye I saw Soul scowl, and I laughed in the middle of my sentence, "To break into your office and bring back proof."

"What proof?" Lady Death asked.

I pointed to the pictures on the wall. I had been in this room so many times I didn't even have to look at them to know where they were. "Those."

"Ah. Continue."

"So Soul and I set off on this journey that wasn't supposed to end up taking this long..." I continued to recount the story of how far we'd come and what had happened while we had been gone, and every time I revealed another twist in the story there was another shocked interjection from either Lady Death or the others, who I remembered hadn't heard this story yet either. I told them everything that had happened up until now, of course leaving out the part where I had told what happened to my family, and the part where Soul had tried to kiss me. "So yeah," I finished awkwardly. "Here we are."

"Interesting story, Miss Marshal," Lady Death said. Under the cloak of her hood, her eyes glinted. "Hard to believe it's only been a week since I've last seen you. And as usual, up to your shenanigans again?" She chuckled. "As soon as I heard you yell that nonsense about the kishin, I knew it was you. No mistaking that loud mouth."

Not sure what to say, I grimaced. "So...you knew we were there?"

She nodded. "Oh yes." Under the shadow of her cloak, her eyes lingered on Soul, then moved to me. "I knew exactly where you were, too."

My stomach turned to knots. Did she know about the almost-kiss, then? I snuck a glance at Soul, who seemed unconcerned.

"But, if you'll excuse me," Lady Death said, picking up her skullophone. "I have a phone call to make." She dialed a number and put the phone to her ear, then after a moment's silence she said, "Ah yes, Lord Death? I'm coming over in a few." Another silence, then, "Yes today, you moron. Okay. Oh and I think you might want to start thinking up some punishments for about...seven, eight, nine of your students." Then she hung up.

The others groaned.

* * *

We rode a limo back to the DWMA with Lady Death. Apparently she was going to have a conference with Lord Death. That had to be awkward for Kid. To be honest it was a little awkward for the rest of us as well.

We had to wait outside Lord Death's office while Lord and Lady Death talked. To be honest, it didn't sound like talking to me. It sounded like an argument. A very heated one.

A little while later Lady Death left in a rush, and Lord Death called Soul and I into his office. "Just Miss Marshal and Mr. Evans," Lord Death said when the others tried coming in after us. I knew we were in trouble, but one look at Soul's face told me he wasn't at all concerned. Still as cool and collected as ever.

Lord Death stood in front of us and said, "Congratulations!" He gave us two thumbs up.

"Huh?" Soul and I chorused, dumbfounded. We stared at Lord Death like he'd grown a second head.

"I'd just like to thank the two of you for all the commotion you've caused," he continued cheerily. "Thanks to you, Lady Death and I are getting back together!"

"You _what_?" This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

"We're remarrying!"

Soul facepalmed. "He can't be serious," Soul muttered in my direction.

"However," Lord Death continued, "Even though you did a great job at playing matchmaker with me and my ex-wife, unfortunately you did still commit a very serious crime, breaking and entering, and you still need to be punished."

Our spirits fell drastically.

Lord Death paused to think. "No sense in sending you to the dungeons since one of you already lives there..."

I said nothing about Maka inviting me to move in with she and Soul.

"You both have meisters so I can't send you on any extra curricular lessons..."

Soul and I exchanged a relieved glance.

Lord Death seemed to get a lightbulb. "I've got it! You can be tutors!"

Soul groaned.

"Tutors?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, tutors, for the younger students." Lord Death nodded reassuringly.

"There's younger students?"

"Stupid snot-nosed brats," Soul griped. I shot him a bemused smirk.

"You start on Monday after school," Lord Death informed us. "Report to me, and I'll send you to your stations."

I nodded. "Sounds good, sir, but we've uh, got to get going. See its been a few days since -"

"Yes yes, of course," Lord Death said, dismissing us with his hand. "But could you send Kid in here? I need to break the good news to him as well."

"Erm, sure," I said. Soul and I left Lord Death's office. The others were waiting for us outside. "Lord Death wants to see you," I said to Kid. As he was going in I muttered, "Good luck..."

"Well, what did he say, guys?" Black Star asked anxiously.

"Starting next week we're tutors," I told him.

Black Star laughed out loud. "Oh, that's rough! Good luck carrot top, you too Soul." The whole group laughed.

"Well," Soul said as the rest of us began to walk down the hallway in a group, "I guess while we're waiting for Kid, some of us can get the canoes and the fishing poles and the life jackets."

I bit my lip to hold back my gasp. Maka asked, "Why?"

Soul stuck his hands in his pockets and turned around to look at the rest of us. "We're going fishing."

His eyes lingered on mine. He smiled at me.

I hesitated. Then slowly, I smiled back.

* * *

**I hate to end this but chapter 14 will be the last chapter in this story! sorry guys ):**


	14. Chapter 14: The End, Not Really

**All the reviews you guys left for chapter 13 made me smile, especially the one saying if i didnt make a sequel they would cry and hunt me down and force me to write more.(; i guess i should be as relieved as you guys then when i say...**

**SEQUEL.(; **

**There was never a doubt in my mind about it, and i've already started writing it, five chapters already, daaang. It shall be called "Extraordinary". i might post the first chapter tomorrow. maybe the next day. depends.(;**

_**keep a close lookout for it! or you can just put me on alerts so you know when it will be posted!**_

**But until then, here you are, with the end of Boundless! hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Instead of using canoes, we ended up going out on the lake in a big motorboat. I didn't know there was a lake in the area considering it was all desert, but I guess life at the DWMA never ceases to amaze you.

The sky was a clear blue with a few white clouds scattered here and there, and the small waves of the water shone as they lapped against the side of our boat. The boat bounced gently upon the water, free to go whichever way the current led it. It was around four or five in the afternoon and we were all hungry as bears, so we decided as soon as we caught enough fish we were going to have a cookout to fry them and eat them.

By this time I was pretty sure everyone knew about Lord and Lady Death's re-engagement. "What do you guys think they'll do about the academies?" I asked, while absentmindedly looping the string through my fishing pole.

"What do you mean, Melody?" Tsubaki asked.

"Well if Lord Death and Lady Death are getting back together I can't imagine they'd continue to go through with it while living 8 hours away from each other...what do you think they're going to do about the fact that they run two different academies?"

"Why, isn't it obvious?" Kid asked arrogantly. "They're going to combine them."

Everyone turned to stare at him. "_What?_" Maka asked after a minute of bewildered silence.

Kid sighed impatiently. "All of Lady Death's students are going to transfer here."

I froze where I was. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm dead serious. My father informed me of all his plans earlier."

I gave Kid a look. "But...the Sister Academy has a whole different set of rules and a different purpose than the DWMA does."

"My father told me that he and my mother will be compromising on the school's new rules before the new students come in a few months," Kid said. "Until then things should stay normal."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, burying my head in my hands. "I just got out of that hellhole, now they're bringing it back to me." I groaned. "Fatass Bernice Brown and everything."

Black Star cackled. "Finally I get to meet the girl whose ass you whooped, carrot top!"

"Black Star, this is not a good thing," I mumbled, mortified.

"Of course it's a good thing," Black Star protested. "There will be two times more women here! Does't that sound good, guys?" He threw his arms around Kid and Soul's shoulders. "Right?"

Kid and Soul mumbled in agreement. Everyone somberly continued to string their fishing poles and cast them out into the water.

"Hey Maka," I said, holding my fishing pole up so when I got a bite I would know, "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

"About what?" she asked, stationed at her own fishing pole a little ways away.

"About me moving in with you and Soul," I replied.

"Of course!" she smiled cheerily at me. "We can start moving all your stuff in first thing tomorrow! Oh and you'll have to sleep on the couch until we get another bed in my room, that sound alright?"

I smiled back. "Sounds great, Maka. Thanks."

"Oh, but there's something you should know first," she said, her smile fading. "It's not just me and Soul living there, we have a third roommate as well. Her name is Blair and she's part cat. She's...quite a handful sometimes."

"Part cat?" I arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Should be interesting."

From the other side of the boat came cheering. Maka and I turned around to see what all the commotion was about.

"Oh, Crona you caught a big one!" Black Star was shouting. "Reel it in, reel it in, YAHOO!"

Maka giggled. "Well, this is fun, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Haven't done this in years."

"I don't think I've ever done it before," she confessed, laughing.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." We watched as Black Star helped Crona reel in his fish and as everyone goggled at it. Crona decided he wanted to throw it back because he couldn't stand keeping a dying fish. Once it was back in the water everyone dispersed to their separate fishing poles.

I reeled in my pole and laid it on the bottom of the boat, then went to stand by Crona. He wasn't fishing anymore either, just standing there, leaning over the side of the boat, looking at the lake. I propped my head up on my arms and did the same.

"Nice catch," I said.

"Thanks," he replied, shifting uncomfortably.

I sighed. Might as well get it over with. "Look, Crona, I'm really sorry about what happened back in the desert. I was angry, and I'm different when I'm angry—"

"I know," he said quietly. He fiddled with his sleeves, a sure sign he was nervous. Then again, when is Crona not nervous?

"I shouldn't have said that stuff," I continued. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were trying your hardest, I mean for Death's Sake, that was the first kishin we ever fought together and I'd say it went damn well, wouldn't you?"

His eyes shone and he smiled meekly. "Yeah, I would."

"Hopefully our soul wavelengths aren't too messed up," I said jokingly, elbowing him softly in the side. "Cause I think it'd be really neat to stay your partner. For a while." I smiled sincerely up at him.

"I'd like that too, Melody," he said. "And I'm sorry for what I said in the desert too. You're actually a really good partner and I would never want Ragnarok back. He's meaner than you."

I laughed. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm a pretty rough-n-tumble girl, Pinky. You're gonna have trouble keeping up with me."

He scrunched up his nose. "Pinky?"

"Yeah, you're Pinky, I'm Red. That's our team." I grinned.

He returned my smile awkwardly.

"Hey Crona, get over here!" Black Star called. "Patty caught a bigger one than you!"

Crona's eyes widened, and he looked at me. I laughed and followed him over to the others to see what was so great about this fish that Patty caught.

It was nearly the size of her head.

"Holy cow, how did you catch that thing?" Liz was saying, her eyes nearly bugging out of her eyes. "Fish steroids?"

Patty giggled innocently. "No silly, I used worms!"

"Worms?" Liz shivered, her voice raising an octave. "Ewww!"

"Yeah, you want some?" When Patty pulled out her worms, everyone cringed and moved away. Patty pouted and started playing with the worms. I laughed and went back to the edge of the boat to continue staring at the lake.

"Hey _roomie_," said Soul, appearing next to me as if out of thin air. I smirked in his direction.

"Amuses you, doesn't it?" I asked without taking my eyes off the water.

"What does?" he asked, humoring me.

"The thought of me living under the same roof as you."

He laughed. "Yeah, it's a real amusing thought."

I nodded. "And why's that?"

He paused, then replied, "Because you're a badass ginger with a smokin' hot bod and a great sense of humor." He smirked at me in a mischievous way that made it seem like he knew something I didn't, a secret he would be willing to let me in on if I really wanted to know.

"Hmm, where have I heard that one before?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "Get some new lines, hotshot."

"Harsh," he teased. "Me, you, the bookworm, and the cat all living together, who woulda thought?" One look in his playful crimson eyes told me there was a lot more to him than he let on.

"Certainly not me," I said, playing along.

"So how's your first fishing trip in eight years, Red? Enjoying yourself?"

"More than ever." I brushed my strawberry-colored bangs out of my eyes, but it was no use because the wind ended up blowing them back anyway.

"Maybe you wouldn't be so ginger if you cut down on the carrots," Soul wisecracked. I laughed, whacking him lightly on the arm.

"Maybe I like being ginger," I reproached.

"Good," he said, running his fingers through a strand of my hair. "It suits you." He looked out at the water and said, "Someday you'll be famous. Melody Marshal, the best redheaded female death scythe that the DWMA has ever seen."

"You mean the _only_?"

"The one and only."

* * *

**Ta-daaaa! The End!**

**Sequel?(;**


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